Renaissance

Chapter 14

Driving his Mustang (which he was absurdly fond of, Melodie would say, but of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Greyson would snort at her and call her jealous) reminded him of the days he had spent on the road with Melodie, seemingly heading to an unknown land in the distance. It made him feel free. And so it was a particular activity he turned to in all moods - which, admittedly, could be a bad habit, considering how reckless and impulsive he could get in anger.

Tonight, he had taken to drive to Melodie's house - for the sole purpose of returning her the newspaper article, he rationed with himself. She had actually forgotten to take the newspaper article featuring herself, that she had kept for so many years, when she had shown him that night on the cliff. Just the thought made him shake his head with a wry smile. The girl was just so silly sometimes.

It was already late at night, actually, about 10PM. He would have gone earlier, but he had gotten an incredible song idea, that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of before. He would surprise Melodie with it when he released it. It would make her smile, definitely. He shook his head hard, trying to rid himself of the ridiculously wide smile already forming itself on his face just at that thought. Honestly, it was unbelievable, the difference in him as compared to three months ago. Three months ago, he would have hardly smiled, at all. And now it didn't take much for him to grin or laugh genuinely. Any high-school-cool-bro would say that he had 'gone soft'. Frankly, he did think so, even being a tad embarrassed of it sometimes - but he knew better. Happy was good. He would keep it that way.

He turned into the little road lined by trees, with leaves speckling the ground. The entire image would make the perfect, lonely, autumn shot. Melodie's apartment building - all mild red brick and framed with white stucco - was one of the several buildings lining the street, all at a similarly low height. Tonight, the area was strangely empty - all except for one car.

Then he saw something that made him stop his car.

There Melodie was, dressed warmly for the autumn in a semi-thick sweater, scarf, jeans and boots, walking toward the car - pulling along two large pieces of luggage.

Quietly pulling to a stop at the curb a distance away, he watched as a man, donning semi-formal attire, came out of the car and helped load her luggage into the boot. All the while, his mind couldn't register what exactly was going on. Was she going on a holiday? Without telling him?

♫ (play song in multimedia)

Seeing her make a move to enter the car seemed to push his gears into motion, and he quickly opened the car door. "Melodie!" He shouted, his voice resonating strong in the empty night.

The girl immediately froze in her position, where she had already opened the door.

He walked toward her with an uneasy step. "Melodie?" He called out with a voice ringing unsure.

After a moment, she ducked her head into the car again, seeming to exchange a few words with the driver that he couldn't hear. She shut the door and the car drove off. He grew even more confused.

"Mel?" He said when she still didn't turn to face him. "What's going on?"

Then she turned around, and he could see her eyes - a doleful blue, moist and sparkling in the moonlight. Feeling alarmed and concerned, he walked closer to her, his hand reaching out. "Shit, Mel, are you crying?"

And just when he was almost right in front of her, just when his hand almost touched her shoulder, her body jolted into motion and she tore away from him.

For a few seconds, he reacted only in shock, watching her as she ran toward the bridge and the little woods behind her apartment.

Then, finally, the gears in his mind started moving again - and he started running after her.

"Melodie!" He shouted, hearing his own loud voice fill the place. "Stop right there!"

She didn't. By the time he had reached the bridge, she was already over it and running on the little path creeping into the woods. Damn, that girl could run!

"Melodie Cadence!" He yelled, growing more and more frantic by the moment. He dashed into the woods, trying to listen for the telltale crunching of autumn leaves covering the forest floor and to follow the sounds. "I told you not to play like this with me again!"

Just twenty metres away, the girl had ducked into the large, hollow trunk of an old tree that looked to be at least a hundred years there. She burrowed herself as deep inside the tree as possible, trying to stop her sobs. It was dark and damp but she wasn't coming out. Not when even the sight of him made her want to just run into his arms. And she couldn't stop then. She couldn't let Victoria - or rather, herself - crush his career. It was for his good.

"Damn you, Melodie!" She jumped at his tone, which was quickly taking on impulsive anger that we all burn up with in the midst of frustration and desperation. Her hand shot to her mouth and she gasped softly into it, feeling her salty tears run cold against her skin. "It's not funny! I know you can hear me!"

Growing increasingly panic-stricken at the notion of uncertainty as to what exactly was going on with Melodie and where she was going, he almost feverishly searched every possible hiding spot around him. The solitary trees stood by the side, each a different picture, watching him with their distinct trunks towering over him, their stark branches extending thin canopies of slowly dying autumn leaves. In the whistling wind that left ghostly touches on both their skin, the awnings of red, orange, yellow leaves rustled quietly, the bleak moonlight filtering through.

"Melodie!" He hollered, his flame already dying out slowly, and he began to lose speed in his searching. "Come out, you dumbass! You can't leave!"

I can. I should. I must. I will.

"Damn you!" He barked, angrily kicking at a mound of leaves. They scattered apart. "You can't break off just like that without any explanation! What would I -"

- do without you?

This time, he had the courage to finish his sentence.

"What would I do without you?"

Her heart stopped at the defeated sound of his voice.

Finally the sound of his footsteps slowed from a tiring agitated run to a despondent trudging.

A silence persisted in the cold night air of the still forest for a long time, punctuated only with rustlings of dead leaves and the warbling of the forlorn wind.

"Fine," she finally heard his voice. And when it came again, this time it was filled with the lost kind of anger yet again, reverberating in the empty forest. "Fine! You want to leave, leave! You want to be a coward, go!"

There was a pause, and it was evident that he was catching his breath from his outburst. But when he opened his mouth again, there came more words - he didn't even know where they came from.

"I had things to say to you," Greyson said in a low voice, "but you don't even want to let me know what the hell is going on. So if you're going to keep me out, then fine. Go. Leave."

"I'm disappointed in you."

Those were his last words to her.

Then he turned on his heel and ran off.

Melodie stayed where she was for a long time, not moving. Inside the massive hundred-year-old tree, she felt smaller than ever; and all by herself in the woods, where no one knew where she was, she felt more alone than she had ever felt.